Speaker Name(s): Deborah Saucier, Ph.D.Description: Individuals differ in their spatial abilities, including their ability to navigate through space, to remember the location of items and to compare objects that are presented in different orientations. The hippocampus, the part of the brain that is associated with many spatial abilities, is also a site in the brain that exhibits neurogenesis--the development of new cells. Dr. Saucier's research examines how neurogenesis relates to the performance of spatial abilities, how changes in hormone levels are associated with changes in neurogenesis and spatial ability and how neurogenesis changes as we age. This research has important implications for understanding how the brain changes over the lifespan.